Method of producing a simulated stake and strand fabric article



May 14, 1929. L, LARSEN 1,712,624 Q METHOD OF PRODUCING A SIMULATED STAKE AND STRAND FABRIC ARTICLE Filed June 1, 1926 s Sheets-Sheet l Hllj/lI/IIIIIHIHI L. LARSEN 1 May 14, 1929.

METHOD OF PRODUCING A SIMULATED STAKE AND STRAND FABRIC ARTICLE Filed aunggl 1926 a Sheets-Sheet 2 mm HHHHHfinHm HHHHHHHHNHH HHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHH Hm I 7 [ZUGYZTGP' ZEMJZCZTJ Q/A 1.. LA'RSEN May 14, 1929.

METHOD DFTRODUCING A SIMULATED STAKE AND STRAND FABRIC ARTICLE Filed June 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 53 WWmM till l atented May 14, 1929.

stares aren't o-Fric s1.

nnwrs Lassen, or MENOMINEE, Micnrean, ASSIGNOR- so rrnvwoonwAKnFIntn ooiuranv, or Bosron, "ivrassncnnsn'rrs, a oonrona'rron' or massacrrnsnrrs;

zanrrnon or rnonncrnea smuna'rnn STAKE annsrnnnn FABRIC ARTICLE.

Application filed. June 1,

matters hereinafter described andmore particularly pointed out in the appended claims. The main object of the present invention is to provide a novel methodof producing ar ticles of furniture, vehicle bodies and the like which include a substantially tubular or endless body covering, which simulates in appearance a covering made of a stake and strand fabric of reedi or reed fibre, and by which method, the articles of furniture, vehicle bodies and the like may be made at a {greatly reduced cost andat an increase in the speed of production. i

it further object of the invention is to provide a method of the hind described wherein a blanlrof sheet material such as a good quality of paper is cut to a predetermined pattern or outline and is simultaneously slit to form connected strand portions and through the slits of which stakes are inserted over and under desired strandportions after which the ends of the blank are attached to gether to form a substantially tubular covering, thereafter attached as an entirety to the article frame to produce the finished. article.

lily invention consists {generally in the manner, steps, acts and sequence thereof, whereby the above mentioned objects together with others which will hereinafter appear, are attainable and my invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings illustrative thereof and wherein i Fig. 1 a View in plan elevation of a blanlr cut from a piece of suitable sheet material and simultaneously slit in the proper manner and ready for the lacing or inserting of associated stakes.

hi the blank as it appears after the insert-ion of the stakes.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of a fragment of the slitted blank atter 'on of the stakes therein:

. a is a detail sectional view on an onscale through the staked blank or insertion ofthe stakes, the plane of the is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing 1926. sraa No. 113, 041'.

section: being indicated by the line 44* of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale as taken through one endmargin of the staked blank, the plane of the sectron being indicated by the line 55 ofFig. 2'.

Fig. frame adaptedto receive and tohave secured to i 1e stalredblank shown in Fig. 2;

l ig. 7 is a perspectivefview of a vehicle 6 is a perspective view of an article body formed by attaching a staked blank shown in Fig. 2 to'the article frame shown in F 1g. 6. I

Fig. 8 is a detail vertical section through" body shown in Fig; 7'

Fig. 12 is a horizontal. detail sectional view as taken on the line 12-12of Fig. 110.

The drawings illustrate the several steps of my improved method as employed in the production of a vehicle body such asababy carriage body of the closed end or gondola type and I will desc- 'ibe the method in accordance therewith but itis to be understood that the same is intended as by way of illustration and description only and'not by way of limitation because my improved method may also be employed or followed out inthe production ofotlier articles where its peculiar characteristics makes it of advantage to do so.

The vehicle bodyillustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawings includes a body frame which comprises a rectangular elongated flat base 1, a horizontally disposed substantially rectan gular shaped top frame n'iember 2 and upright U shaped side frame member 88, which framemembers are made of suitable dowel stock bent to form best shown in Fig. 6. Each side framemember 3 includes upright end members 3 -3 and a connecting horizontal bottom member 3", which is disposed in a plane below that of the base, said base having recesses 1 in its corners in which por- "tions of the upright members 33 are secured in any suitable manner. The rectangular top frame member, includes side ralls or parts 2 and front and rear end members Q -Z the side rails resting upon andbeing fabric or covering of a stake and strand fabric simulating material, which at the time of application to the frame is tubular or of endless form, Fig. 2 showing the fabric or 7 covering before the ends thereof have been connected together to provide such tubular .or endless form. Said fabric is preferably made of an-fibrous material such asa good quality of paper of the desired thickness and is cut from a sheet to provide the blank 5 bestshown in Fig. 1. ',Said blank is of an irregular strip form and includes a mid or body portion6 with a sideportion 7 at each endthereof which side portions'each terminate in an extension part 8 of a length, somewhat greater thanone half the length of said body portion; In the finished fabric, the portion 6'forms one end of the tubular covering to be attached to thevehicle body frame, the

portions 7.? form the sides thereof and the extensions 8are attached together toform the other end of the covering.

The portions 7 whichwill be hereinafter referred to as the ,sideportions are disposed in oppositely and downwardly curved planes and at rather shallow angles to the plane of the mid'portion 6 and each extension 8 is disposed the same mannerwith respect to said portions 7 as said portions bear with respect to said mid portion 6, the end edges of said extensions 8 being preferably arranged at a V p right angle to the top and bottom edges of said extensions.

' In the body, side and end extension portions of the blank are provided, longitudinally extending rows of spaced slits 9, each row being suitably spaced from the adjacent rows to provide rows ofstrand simulating portions 10 extending transversely across the blank and in planes at substantially right angles to the edges of the blank through which said planes extend, the rowsof strand portions being arranged alternately with respect to intermediate strand connecting or bond portions 11. The top and bottom rows of slits 9 are spaced inwardly'from the top and bottom edges of the blank (which is shown in an endwise position in Figs1'and2 for sake of convenience) thus leaving top and bottom selvage margins 12 and 13 there-along, while all the rows of slits terminate at their ends short of the edges of the extensions 8 thus forming selvage margins 1414 on said extensions. Furthermore, as shown herein but not necessarily so,

the second slit in each row of slits, counting from each end of the blank is omitted to form a transverse band or unslitted portion 15. Thus each end row of strand portions is isolated or in other words is se )arated from the next adjacent row of stran portions by the transverse band 15 as indicated at 10 in Figs. 1 and 10. From the foregoing it is apparent that there is an unslit selvage or margin bounding the slit blank. Should it be desired to incorporate certain designs, or confi urations in the portions 6 and 7 of the finished fabric, to enhance the appearance thereof, this may be easily done by omitting certain slits in predetermined rows of slits thus leaving portions in the blank wherein some of the strand portions 10 are of a matter area as for instance as shown at 10 in igs. 1 and 2.

The blank thus slit is now ready to receive the stakes,'one for each row of strand simulating portions 10. The stakes 16 employed are preferably those used in the reed weaving industry and may be either of natural reed or reed fibre the latter usually including a steel wire core which gives it strength but permits it to be flexed as required. Each stake which may or may not be cut to proper length before use, is lnserted through the slits defining one row of strand simulating portions 10 and in simulating regular over and under stake and strand fabric, the stakes are so inserted that alternate strand portions engage on one side of the stakes and the intermediate strand simulating portions are ongaged on the other side of said stakes. In inserting the stakes through the strand simulating portion of the adJacent rows, the corresponding strand simulating portions are disposed upon opposite sides of the stake in alternation. to those just described, so that if a horizontal row of strand simulating portions is considered, alternate portions are disposed on one side of all of said stakes and the intermediate portions are disposed on the o posite side of all of the stakes, the ends of said stakes alwa s being disposed on the same side of the blanras best shown in Figs. 3 and t which is the inside after the fabric has been attached to an article frame. In inserting the stakes into the slit-blank, no stakes are inserted into the end-most rows of strand portions 1010 between the selvage margin 14 and unslitted band portion 15, the same being left in this condition for a purpose to appear later.

It is to be noticed that the bond portions 11 which extend transversely or from top to bottom of the blank are in no manner severwl or slit so far as the top and bottom selvage margins 12 and 13 are concerned and that they therefore act to connect said margins to gether and impart a stability or stiffness to the blank when considered transversely and thus assist the stakes in this action. Again 7 the bonding portions perform another timetion in that they causethe strand simulatinc" portions to be flexed or placed under a 7 parallel with the stakes but is so flexible in a. lengthwise direction as to easily conform to the desired shape.

As is apparent the rows of slits may be continuous in length, or in other words the slits may be so formed as to make the strand portions in the form of ribbons, or hands extending; the length of the slits. However under such a construction, there would be nothing to maintain the stakes against lateral shifting as is apparent and even the strands might become displaced so that such a construction would not be so practical as the one wherein the slits in each row are spaced apart providinn the strand portions above described After the blank has been staked as described, the end portions are brought together in overiapping relation so that the isolated.

strand portions 10 on one end register with the like bond portions at the other end thus bringing the selvage margin 14 on one end to overlap the band portion 15 on the other end and the selvage margin on the second mentioned end to underlap the band 15 on the first mentioned end. Thereafter the reg istering strand portions 10 are offset to one side or the other of the plane of the fabric and a stake member 16 is inserted through the slits, over and under the strand portions thus securing the ends of the blank together so that the same is now a fabric of tubular form. Should it be desired, the stake 16 may be dispensed with and the ends of the blank brought into overlapping relation and comented together but such a connection is not so strong; as that first described which is also advantageous as it adds to the symmetrical appearance of the associated end of the finished article as best shown in Fig. 10, with a band and a salvage margin disposed upon opposite sides of the plane of the registering strand. portions.

lfn applying such a slit and staked and now tubular fabric or frame covering member above described, upon a vehicle body fram as shown in Fig. 6 I place the top portion of the fabric over the bottom end of the frame and work the fabric until its top selvage may be engaged partways around the parts W-El of the top members 2 of the frame, the overlapping ends of the fabric being positioned at one end of the frame, with the stake 16 in the median plane of the frame. The fabric may be worlred or pulled to malre it conform withlthe frame and its bottom salvage margin 13 is broughtto coincide with the bottom frame parts, the selvage margins being secured to the associated frame par by tacks or brads 17. In aifixing the selvage margins to said frame parts I find it preferable to drive-the tacks or brads throughthe selvage margins in the planes of the bond portions 11 as best snown in Fig. 9 so that said stakes are not only secured against endwise withdrawal but the heads of the tacks or brads do not so project as to be objectionable in any manner.

It will be noticed from Fig. 8 that a slight curvature may be provided in the sides of the carriage body and this curvature will be more or less at different portions of the body so that the covering will easily conform to the shape of the frame to which it is applied. With the fabric on the frame as before mentioned, there will be a design on each side and on one end of the body so that the whole will be of symmetrical appearance. It is also preferable that the finish for the body such as the desired coats of paints or enamels be applied after the covering or fabric is on the frame because the possibilities of soilin the same is thus greatly reduced. My improved method although described in connection with the production of a baby carriage body, may also be employed in the production of other articles where its peculiar characteristics makes it advantageous to do so.

Inasmuch as this disclosure will readily suggest to others skilled in the art to which this method appertains, various methods whereby the substantial objects of my invention can be attained, I do not Wish to be limited to the specific stated manner of procedure nor to the precise steps, acts or stated sequence thereof, except as may be found necessary by the limitations in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention 1. The method of producing an article having a frame and a simulated stake and strand fabric covering which consists in providing a covering member of sheet material having rows of slits therein terminating short of the edges of the sheet to form selvage margins, bringing the ends of the covering member together in overlapping relations with some of the strands in one end in register with those in the other end, inserting a stake through the registering strands to secure the ends of the covering member together so that said covering member is of tubular form and attaching said covering member to the frame.

2. The method of producing an article having' a frame and a covering simulating a stake and strand fabric, which consists in providing a sheet of material of a length approximating the circumference of the frame and having rows of longitudinally extending spaced slits therein terminatingshort of the ends of the sheet to provide strand portions in' the body of the sheet with an unslitted top and bottom selvage margin, inserting stakes under and over desired strands, bringing the ends-of the sheet into overlapping relation with the endmost strands in registration, inse'rtmg a stake through said registering strands to secure said ends together and to 

